Baisakhi Harvest Festival

Baisakhi Harvest Festival

Baisakhi is celebrated as a harvest festival by the large farming community in the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. People wake up early on the day and take bath in rivers or pond water before performing their rituals and also making charity donations. This year it will be celebrated on Tuesday April 13th.

 

The Baisakhi Festival marks the time for the harvest of the winter crops and is celebrated with enthusiasm in the state of Punjab, where agriculture is the main occupation of its people.

To celebrate the occasion, people wear brightly coloured clothes and perform exuberant bhangra and giddha dances to the tune of the dhol.

 

Farmers in Punjab celebrate the Baisakhi Festival by feasting and merry- making, before they have the hard task of harvesting the next day. Farmers have lots of money at this time and are in the perfect mood to enjoy the fruits of their labour during this time!

As a harvest festival, Baisakhi is also celebrated by different names and with different rituals in several regions of India. Regional celebrations of Baisakhi are marked as Rongali Bihu in Assam, Naba Barsha in Bengal, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, Vishu in Kerala and Vaishakha in Bihar.

There are many people from these areas living in Dubai and the UAE and you may see them celebrating this week- now you know why!

Baisakhi Recipes
We’ve got 3 great Baisakhi traditional recipes for you to try here- an oh so tasty lamb or mutton dish, great looking and tasting rice to go with it and a comforting rice pudding for dessert- hungry yet???

Achari Lamb or Mutton

Ingredients
4 onions
4 tomatoes
800 grams boneless lamb or mutton
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon onion seeds
5 cloves
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon red chili powder
2 tbsp ginger
2 tbsp garlic
½ cup coriander- chopped
8 whole red chillies
7 tablespoons mustard oil
A pinch of salt
4 tablespoons ghee

Method
Wash and cut the lamb or mutton into small cubes
Roughly chop onions and tomatoes.
Roast the whole spices separately- grind them altogether using a pestle and mortar
Add the chopped ginger and garlic into a pan with heated oil in it
Add the coarsely ground masala powder
Keep stirring constantly
Add the lamb or mutton to the pot and cook on a high heat till the meat browned
Add the tomatoes, red chili powder, salt, turmeric powder and mix well
Cook until the time oil seperates from the sauce
Add about 3 cups of water, bring it to a boil and cover
Simmer until the lamb or mutton is cooked through
Put coriander leaves on top and serve hot

Peele Chawal- Yellow Fennel Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups basmati rice
4 tablespoons of ghee
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoon yellow food colouring
2 green cardamoms
3 and a ½ cups of water
1 cup sugar
One cup mixed nuts & fruit- cashews, almonds, pistachios with golden raisins and dry cranberries

Method
Soak two cups of basmati rice in water and save for later
In a sauce pan heat two tablespoons of ghee with 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds.
Add 1/2 a teaspoon of yellow food colouring, two green cardamoms, 3 and a 1/2 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar
Let it come to a boil and then add the soaked, drained rice to it
Cover the pan and bring to the boil
When the rice comes to a boil, lower the heat and let it continue to cook until soft
In a separate small sauce pan, heat 2 teaspoons of ghee and sautee the cup of mixed nuts and fruit until they turn pink and release a delicious aroma
Add the nuts and raisins to the other pan about 5 minutes before you think rice will be fully cooked
Serve hot!

Dried Fruit Kheer- Fruity rice pudding

Ingredients
1 liter milk
3/4 cup sugar
15 strands saffron crushed, soaked in 1 tsp. hot milk
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
10 to 12 almonds- sliced
10 to 12 pistachios- sliced
5 to 6 whole dried peaches (quartered)
5 to 6 dried apricots chopped
Handful of raisins
Handful of currants

Method
Soak the raisins, currant, peaches and apricots in hot water for 10 minutes to soften
Boil the milk with the cardamom, saffron and sugar for 10 minutes
Drain the now soaked dry fruit and add to the boiling milk, stirring gently
Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes
Add almonds, pistachios, and take off the heat
Serve hot!